Part 9

After having read to Sir Humphry till nearly ten, I set out, accompanied by three guides furnished with lamps and some pounds of candles. We walked across the fields for about a mile in darkness, the moon not having yet risen, till we came to a slight ascent which brought us to a door in the mountain. The guides here lighted their lamps, and cut the candles into bits, and unlocking the door, we entered and found ourselves in a low and dark passage. Two of the guides went on before with the candles, and I followed a few minutes after with the other, the only one of the three who spoke German. The passage brought us to the top of a rock, where we found ourselves in an immense vault, the roof and sides of which could not be distinguished by the eye. Below us, at the foot of the rock, we heard the rushing of a river, whose waters were invisible to us owing to the extreme darkness. We saw the other two guides upon a frail wooden bridge, which is thrown across this subterraneous stream, they having already lighted some of the candles, which they were engaged in fixing upon the side rail, and in a few minutes, more than thirty candles in some degree dispelled the darkness which surrounded us. The river became visible for about one hundred yards on each side of the bridge, flowing as it were out of total darkness above, and passing again into gloom and shade below it. The light however was by no means sufficient to enable me to discover the roof of this vast dome. It is a striking scene, but very different from any presented by the grotto of Corneale, and a poet might have thought the vault a banquetting room for the giants of old, or the council-chamber of Lucifer and his host; the dark and rushing water the gloomy river Styx, dividing him from the kingdom of Pluto, and have expected to see the grim ferryman appear with his boat. There was however no Charon to ferry us over, and we accordingly descended the steps in the rock, and crossed the river by the tottering and slippery bridge. A steep path cut in the rocks on the other side conducted us to the _Little Temple_, a small vault, whose roof and sides were covered with stalactites of the most varied and grotesque forms, hanging down from the roof, shooting out from the sides, or rising as stalagmites[F] from the floor, some pointed, some round, and others flat, thin, and transparent. In one part of this temple are inscribed the names of the strangers who have visited the grotto. From hence we went to the _Hall_, or _Place of the Tournament_, passing in another vault by the _Butcher's stall_, perhaps one of the most apt denominations of the many which the guides have given to the numerous larger masses of stalactite met with in these caverns. It stands alone, projecting from the walls of the vault, and somewhat resembles a pulpit in form. One of the guides enters this stall with a lamp, and illuminates the different joints of limestone meat, sausages, hams, &c., which hang around. The _Tournier-platz_ or Place of the Tournament, is a lofty and extensive cavern, the floor of which is formed of very fine sand, and is exceedingly level and firm. The shape of the vault is oval, and the sides have some slight resemblance to an amphitheatre. On Whit-Monday the whole of the grotto is illuminated, and hundreds flock to behold this curious scene, the _Tournier-platz_ being arranged as a ball-room, and in which the visitors dance till a very late hour. From thence we went through long passages and caverns, each of which presents something remarkable. In one, a large pillar rises from the ground, which, on being struck with a stone or stick, gives out a sound resembling the deep and sonorous tone of a tolling bell; and in another, stands a large fluted pillar, to which the guides give the strange name of the _Kanonen-Säule zu Moskau_, or the Pillar of Canons at Moscau. In another part of the cavern we see a vase, on the top of a small pillar, constantly full of water, which falls into it, drop by drop, from the roof; it is perfectly clear, and icy cold. Beyond this font, we came to the _great curtain_, the most striking single stalactite in the whole cavern. The limestone here descends in many a waving and beautiful fold from the roof, from a height of upwards of twenty feet, and projecting about six feet out from the rock. The whole mass is exceedingly thin, and is bordered by a stripe of red. Seen from a distance, when the guides hold their lamps behind it, the effect is highly striking, and the spectator can hardly believe that the transparent curtain before him is formed of hard stone. The red colour in the edge of this mass of limestone, is the only instance of the kind I met with in the grotto, the general colour of the stalactites being either pure white or whitish brown: and they are often covered with a crust of very fine crystals. At some distance beyond the curtain, the cave divides into two branches, one of which ends with a large block of limestone, that bears the name of the _high altar_; the other has been rarely trodden by the foot of a stranger, for my guide said that this was only the second time that he had been there, since the discovery of that part of the cave, by him and another of the men who were with me, six or seven years ago. It extends for a considerable way, till all further progress is stopped by a large pool of water, over which the guides said no one had ever crossed. This pool did not appear to me to be of any very great extent, and I felt persuaded, that with the help of a few long poles, it would have been possible to have passed over the slippery rocks on its sides; we had, however, nothing of the kind with us, and I was obliged to abandon the idea, nor did the guides appear at all inclined to continue our peregrinations, having already penetrated to a greater distance than usual. I carefully examined the water, but in vain, to see if I could discover anything like a proteus, and I asked the guide if on his former visit he had seen any animal in the pool, but he said he had not. The paths through the cavern are generally very good, and broad enough for two or three persons to walk abreast, and have in many places been widened and levelled by art, but the road from the curtain to the end of the grotto, passes over a chaos of rocks and large broken stalactites; these, though now united by the all-binding lime-water into shapeless masses of rock, formerly composed the roof, but have now given place to newer formations, so that even in these subterraneous caverns, as in all other of nature's works, man beholds destruction only as making way for regeneration. The process is one of the slowest, but sure in its effects; an accident, the shock of an earthquake for example, may strew the floor of the cavern with the stalactites which hang from the roof, yet the impregnated water flows from above, deposits the limestone, and in a few centuries, the roof is again ornamented with its curious and beautiful fretwork. Retracing our steps through the different halls, temples, and passages, we again found ourselves on the banks of the subterraneous river. This is the Laibach, which rising in the plain above Adelsberg, enters the mountain, and after flowing through the cavern and underground for a considerable distance, again appears at the foot of the hill near Planina. We crossed the little bridge, ascended the rocks, and taking a last look around the vast and dark cupola by which we had first entered, I bade adieu to the caverns of Adelsberg. On coming out of the mountain, the air felt very cold, for the temperature within had been very agreeable, almost warm. It was past one o'clock, so that we had been three hours under ground. The moon was up, and guided by her clear light, we soon reached the inn, where I dreamt till morning of grottos, and caverns and their spirit inhabitants.

_13th._ We left Adelsberg this morning, and after a drive of about three hours through a wild and hilly country, we arrived at the village of Zirknitz, on the borders of the celebrated Zirknitzer-See. The inn, though small, had two decent rooms, and Sir Humphry determined to remain here for a day or two, in order to shoot quails, which abound in the neighbourhood; he accordingly went out in the afternoon with his gun, accompanied by the innkeeper, who had recommended himself to him by speaking Italian; and I went in the meantime to look at the lake. Its banks are formed by mountains of no great height, completely covered with forests of pine, and in the lake are three islands, each of which has a different name. On the largest, called _Vomek_, is a little village; the other two, _Goritza_ and _Malagoritza_, are smaller and barren. The lake itself is of an oblong form, and, as I ascertained from "The Chronicle of Carniola," (a voluminous and old work on the history and geography of this part of Austria, by Baron Valvasor, and the only book to be found in the inn,) about one German mile (four and three quarters English) in length, and rather more than half a one in breadth. Its depth varies, but it is no where considerable. In different parts of it are large and deep conical holes, Valvasor says eighteen, each of which has also a name: the chief of them are _Koten_, _Zeschenza_, _Malabonarza_, _Velkioberk_, _&c._, and through these holes the lake is filled with water. This generally takes place annually, in October or November, and the water again disappears through these holes in the beginning of summer.

In twenty days after the disappearance of the water, grass springs up, and produces very good hay; numbers of birds flock to the fields, and the bed of the lake then becomes a sporting ground. The disappearance of the waters, however, is by no means certain, for sometimes a whole year will elapse without the lake becoming dry, while at times it will sink and re-appear twice, or even thrice, in one year. At the end of the lake, near Zirknitz, are two large openings in a rock called _Malakarlouza_ and _Valkakarlouza_, through which the water runs off when the lake rises higher than usual. During the winter the lake is generally frozen over. The temperature and colour of its water are similar to that of the other lakes in this part of the country, though the fish which inhabit it, chiefly pike, are said to be unwholesome. By what means and from whence this lake is filled, it is very difficult to say; the most probable conjecture is that it is supplied by some vast reservoir of water in the interior of the earth, which may also be the feeder of the many subterraneous rivers with which the surrounding country abounds. Not a single stream flows out of the lake, but six or seven small rivulets fall into it, the largest of which is the _Zirknitzbach_. In the evening Sir Humphry returned from his sport, bringing with him some quails and a few snipes.

_14th._ Sir Humphry again went out shooting in the morning, and I went to see the caves of St. Kanzian, with a lad, who spoke a little German, as a guide. These caves are situated about four miles from Zirknitz, and are merely large and deep natural caverns, through which a small river runs, which again appears about half a mile further, in a beautiful fertile valley, through which it flows for a short distance, when it passes under a natural bridge of rock, on the other side of which it disappears, and does not again rise till near Adelsberg. Although it has here no particular name, it is probably the same as the Laibach river, and may take its rise from the lake of Zirknitz. The natural bridge under which it flows before its disappearance, is a fine arch of rock, from thirty to forty feet in height, covered with trees on the top, between which are seen the remains of an old church, dedicated to St. Kanzian.

_15th._ Sir Humphry's sport yesterday not having proved so good as he expected, he went to-day, on his pony, up to the mountains with the innkeeper, to see if he could not shoot a _Steinhuhn_, or alpine partridge, and I went with my guide of yesterday to see the grotto of Heiligen-kreutz, where, he told me, a little white fish with four feet and two red fins on its neck, had been lately found. From this description I knew it to be the proteus, the inhabitant of the Magdelena grotto at Adelsberg; and the hope of finding this animal in the caves at the other end of the lake of Zirknitz, induced me to go thither. We coasted round the lake, passing through many little hamlets on its banks, till we arrived at the end of it, when we turned up a side valley, which brought us to the foot of the mountain of Heiligen-kreutz. We here found two small huts, in one of which was an old man, who agreed to be our guide to the grotto, and who furnished us with large pieces of fir-wood for torches. After an ascent of half an hour up the mountain, we came to a great hole, which was the entrance of the cavern. Here the guide put a bit of ignited fungus or tinder into a handful of dry moss, and whirling it round with rapidity, soon produced a flame, at which we lighted our torches. We then scrambled down into the hole, and entered a long and lofty passage, the floor of which was covered with great stones and masses of rock, over which it was with great difficulty that we could proceed, and the roof and sides presented nothing but dark and rugged rock, unadorned by stalactites. After advancing for some hundred yards through this passage, we came to a running stream of water of considerable breadth, but only six or eight inches deep. We walked through this for some time, till it fell with a deafening noise into a large hole on one side of the cave, probably into some deep cavern below. The passage then turned to the left, and conducted us into a small round vault, from the roof and sides of which hung a considerable number of stalactites. This the old man said was the end of the cavern, and finding it so, I felt there was nothing to recompense one for the fatigue of a walk of ten miles, and the scramble over the rocks in the passage. During our course through the stream, as well as in the many large holes filled with water, I had in vain looked for the proteus, which however the old man assured me had been found by the peasants in the stream during its course through the cavern, and that it had also been cast up by it, when swelled by rain, near Laas, a small town about five miles distant, where this subterraneous stream again appears upon the surface. Quitting the cavern, I returned to Zirknitz, which I reached late in the afternoon, with a very good appetite, for all that we had partaken of since an early breakfast, was a few smoked pears and a pint of wine, sourer than the sourest vinegar, which, with a bit of black bread, were the only eatables afforded by one of the village inns of the banks of the lake of Zirknitz. Sir Humphry had returned from his pursuit of the mountain partridge, nearly as fatigued and dissatisfied with his ill-success as I was with mine, and he determined upon returning to Laibach to-morrow.

_16th-30th._ Quitting Zirknitz, and driving through Planina and Ober-Laibach, we returned to Laibach, where we remained in our old quarters till the 30th. Sir Humphry, as usual, occupying the day in shooting or fishing, and now and then in completing his experiments on the torpedo, by comparing the results of the electricity of this fish with the effects produced by a very small voltaic pile. He found them to be essentially different in their action, and summed up the whole series of his experiments and observations in a long letter to the Royal Society.[G] He has at last met with a pair of carriage horses that please him, and has bought them for four hundred florins (40_l._), so that he now intends travelling with his own four horses. The weather has been getting colder and colder, but I think that nothing less than the sight of the snow that fell to-day (30th) would have determined his departure, which is now fixed for to-morrow, when we start for Italy and Rome.

_31st._ We have at last quitted Laibach, and I never recollect having left any place, not even the most wretched village, with the joy and delight I experienced on quitting Detella's inn, which has so long been for me an abode of listlessness and ennui. We slept this night at Planina, in the same bad inn which we stopped at on our trip to Trieste.

_November 1st._ We set out this morning from Planina, and drove over the road we had formerly passed to Wippach. The roads as far as this town were very hard and slippery, the snow which had fallen having frozen during the night, but as soon as we passed the mountains between Adelsberg and Wippach the scene was changed; we had left the winter and wintry country behind us, and found ourselves in a valley, where the trees were still adorned with the fine tints of autumn, and where the temperature was delightful. Leaving Wippach, we entered the province of Friuli, and drove on along a fine high road to Gorizia or Görz, where we did not arrive till late in the evening. The country is fine; it appears to be well cultivated, and the vines hang in festoons from tree to tree. At Gorizia, Italian is the only language spoken, and with the language the people seemed also to have changed, for instead of the slow, awkward, and often insolent German servants, we had here quick and intelligent attendants.

_2nd._ Leaving Gorizia, in which town there is very little interesting, at one o'clock, we crossed the Isonzo, a beautifully clear and broad river. The roads were excellent, and before us and on our right we had the magnificent chain of the Julian Alps, still free from snow. Palmanova, where we spent the night, is a strong fortress, but a miserable little town with a corresponding inn.

_3rd._ The road from Palmanova to Codroipo lies through a flat country, chiefly vineyards, and is lined on each side with mulberry trees. Between Codroipo and Pordenone, we passed over a magnificent wooden bridge across the Tagliamento, the bed of which is here nearly a mile in breadth, and shows what a broad and wild river it must be when swollen by the melting of the snows. Upon asking a man on the road the distance to the next town, he only answered us by holding up his five fingers, as much as to say five miles; a quick mode of expression which a German peasant would never have arrived at. The dress of the peasants was as much changed as the climate; instead of the black leather breeches, huge boots, and sheepskin jacket of the Krainish boor, we here saw striped cotton trowsers, a white cloth or flannel jacket, and shoes and stockings. We to-day, for the first time, saw many donkeys on the road, and little one-horse carriages, with one person sitting in them and the driver standing behind. Pordenone is a small town, with a fine view of the Friuli Alps in the distance.

_4th._ We quitted Pordenone and the Frioul, and dined at Cornegliano, a small old town in the province of Venice, and on quitting it we caught a glimpse of the Alps in the distance, and after a long drive through flat and low lands, arrived in the evening at Treviso. An ancient Roman gateway of beautiful architecture forms the entrance to this town, the streets of which however are narrow and dirty. The Albergo Reale is a very good inn.

_5th._ We quitted Treviso early this morning for Padua, with the Ugonian or Paduan hills in front of us. About two miles out of the town, looking across the marshes, we saw Venice with all her towers rising, as it were, out of them. We were only about five miles from this, the second most interesting city of Italy, nor could I help expressing a wish to see it. Sir Humphry, however, said that he was determined never again to enter it, for he had, upon a former journey, been detained there _upwards of an hour_ about his passport. A little beyond Mestre, a dirty and ruinous town, where passengers generally embark for Venice, we came to the Brenta, and drove along its banks to Dolo, a small village, where we dined. The road is lined with fine, but mostly ruinous villas, in the light Italian style of architecture, and between Dolo and Padua we passed by a magnificent palace belonging to the Viceroy of Milan. We did not arrive at Padua till it was nearly dark, and entered the town by an old Roman gateway, similar to that at Treviso. The streets through which we passed were narrow and dirty, but furnished on both sides with arcades for foot passengers.

_6th._ We left Padua at eight o'clock this morning, passing through the Piazza San Antonio, a fine open square ornamented with statues, and at one end of which is the cathedral church of St. Antonio, said to be one of the churches containing the greatest number of votive altars in Italy.

The country between Padua and Monselice, an insignificant little town where we stopped to bait, is pretty. Crossing the Adige by a flying bridge, we drove on to Rovigo; a town with about eight thousand inhabitants, but with apparently nothing remarkable in it.

_7th._ After leaving Rovigo, we came in a few hours to the Po at Polsella, a fine deep river, but very turbid and rapid. A poste further we crossed it by a flying bridge, and quitting the Austrian territories, we entered the Papal states. The _Douane_ is situated upon the bank of the river, and although the _lascia-passare_, for which Sir Humphry had written to Rome from Laibach, was not arrived, he had no difficulty in passing unexamined, a little money being, it seems, here as good as the best pass. We then drove on to Ferrara, where we lodged at the _Tre Mori_, a very good inn, though badly situated in a very narrow back street.

In the afternoon I walked through the old, deserted, and often grass-grown streets of the town. In the Piazza Ariostea stands a fine old column, and the church in the great square is a fine building externally, the front consisting of numerous rows of arches one above the other. This and the ancient castle or palace of the house of Esté, a large moated brick building, with numerous square towers, in one of which the dungeon of Tasso is still shown, are all that is worth seeing here.

_8th._ We quitted Ferrara in very bad weather, it having snowed all night, and snow and sleet still continued to fall during the day. We stopped to bait at a lone house, which proved to be a very large and good inn, and then proceeded after dinner to Bologna, which we entered in company with three other English carriages. This is a very fine city, with good streets, on each side of which are lofty arcades, so that even in the worst weather one can walk through the greater part of the town without getting wet. In the evening I finished reading the "Castle of Otranto" to Sir Humphry, for the second time.

_9th._ Sir Humphry dictated a letter this morning to Professor Morichini at Rome, and I afterwards walked about the town whilst he paid a visit to Madame M----, the wife of a sculptor to whom he had been introduced when he was formerly in Italy. The streets appear well built and modern, though very dirty, and the houses are for the most part fine and lofty; but there are very few grand single buildings or churches; many of the latter are only to be distinguished from private houses under the arcades, by a coloured drapery hung over the door. The Neptune which surmounts the fountain in the square of the cathedral, a work by Jean de Bologna, certainly has its merits as a statue, but the poor water-god enjoys so little of his element, that he can scarcely provide for the wants of his immediate neighbours. After wandering quite alone through the town, the whole morning and a part of the afternoon, I returned to the hotel St. Marco. Madame M---- having invited Sir Humphry to take a seat in her box at the theatre in the evening, I went to see the play and ballet, and was very much pleased with each. The house is spacious and grand, but dark; the spectacle showy, and the singing and ballet very good.